19 December 1974
Show ; Name *Top Gear ; Station *BBC Radio One ; YYYY-MM-DD *1974-12-19 ; Comments *(Message from Jim of the Peel Mailing List):'' "On to 1974, and the decent FM stereo recordings are courtesy of my mate Ash, using Rotel Receiver and Akai 4000DS. Nice gear, but the tightfist always used the cheapest tape he could get his hands on!"'' *Edited highlights focusing on session tracks with finger on the pause button, but keeping Peel links and occasional records. Around half of the two-hour show survives. *Start of show: "And on Top Gear part two for this week we have Man, Thin Lizzy and Elton John. And Elton will be singing a little and playing the piano quite a lot – a session that was originally broadcast around this time last year. But we start with a track from the LP by Sparks called Propaganda." *The Status Quo single played here was later found in John Peel's Record Box and was the first record played in the Peelenium 1974. *(midnight news): "A car bomb explosion in the West End of London tonight..." Sessions *Thin Lizzy #7 Repeat. First broadcast 24 October 1974. Recorded 1974-10-03. *Man #3 Repeat. First broadcast 14 November 1974. Recorded 1974-10-31. *Elton John #2 Repeat. First broadcast 25 December 1973. Recorded 1973-12-18. (Please add details of any commercial release of these sessions) Tracklisting *Sparks: Bon Voyage (LP – Progaganda) Island (edited out) :(JP: "Thin Lizzy, always good.") *Thin Lizzy: Sha-La La (session) *Man: Many Are Called But Few Get Up (session) :(JP: "Amazing to think you get all this good music free, ain’t it, really? … This is #16 in my list of the best records of the year.") *Status Quo: Down, Down (single) Vertigo :(JP: “They’re a great band, you know, and that’s a great record, I think. One of their best ever, in my view.”) :(JP: “Of course, as I’m sure you know, before Elton John became a famous person, he used to make his living, or part of his living from playing pub piano, and he played it very well indeed, as you will hear in this selection of three Dylan numbers … Good stuff!”) *Elton John: Blowin' In The Wind / She Belongs To Me / Mr. Tambourine Man (Peel session) :(JP: “If Elton John ever falls on hard times, he can come and play the piano at our local, The Chestnut Horse, just any time he likes. … And more from the man later on, including a little singing – not the kind of singing you normally associate with Elton John, though, it has to be said.”) *Thin Lizzy: She Knows (session) :(JP: “Thin Lizzy sounding very good these days, and one of the best bands around, in my view.”) *Man A Hard Way To Die (session) :(JP: “And this is Thin Lizzy’s current single. And I haven’t heard it – in fact, I don’t even think I’ve played it myself, which just goes to show what a shocking state of affairs we’re in.”) *Thin Lizzy: Philomena (session) :(JP: “Earlier on in the year I was at some sort of festival or other and a lady came up to me and introduced herself as Little Darlin’, who was the subject matter of an earlier Thin Lizzy record. And if she’s listening tonight, I dedicate that one to her. She’s a very curious lady. This is the teenager’s friend.”) *Ivor Cutler: The Painful League (LP – Dandruff) Virgin *Ivor Cutler: Piano Tuner Song 2000AD (LP – Dandruff) Virgin *Ivor Cutler: Self Knowledge (LP – Dandruff) Virgin *Ivor Cutler: An Old Oak Tree (LP – Dandruff) Virgin :(JP: “Whenever these programmes are put together, we have to complete these forms … for the BBC which put down the side of the record and which track on that side of the record we are playing. And it is very satisfying if it is Ivor Cutler and you get to be able to put down “side 2, track 30”, which you can in fact do. And we haven’t got to track 30 yet – in fact we’ve got up to something like track 10, but we’ll get up to track 30 eventually. Elton John and a Christmas medley for you, played once again at his Other Piano.”) *Elton John: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer / White Christmas / Jingle Bells (session) :(JP: “Very fine indeed that, I must admit.”) *Man: Day And Night (session) *Thin Lizzy: It’s Only Money (session) :(JP: “For those of you thinking ‘that’s not Elton John playing the piano tonight’, here’s the proof of it all.”) *Elton John: Daniel/ Your Song (session) :(JP: "It does, indeed. Time, gentlemen, please! I think it’s nice actually when somebody in the position Elton John’s in is prepared to make a fool of himself. I was hoping he’d give me a Ferrari – give us a Ferrari – as a wedding present. And well, I’ve been up every morning, but no sign of it yet. All that ‘Watford 4-Liverpool 2’ – the man lives in a dream world!") *Herbie Hancock: Spank-A-Lee (LP – Thrust) CBS :(JP: “Bridget St John walked in while that was playing and we were both bumping furiously. Actually, that isn’t true. … More Elton John on Tuesday night when he will be coming to us live from the Odeon Hammersmith, and Gonzalez will be on the programme too, one or two records. On this programme next week, Ace and Cozy Powell. I think you’ll find both programmes quite interesting, one way or another. Thank you for listening to this. Good night.") File ;Name *Top Gear 1974.12.19 Thin Lizzzy-Man-Elton John.mp3 ;Length *1.02.07 ;Other *Many thanks to Jim and Ash! ;Available *Mooo Category:1974 Category:Peel shows Category:Available online Category:Top Gear